ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the complexities of Myanmar's re-emergence of national and local legislative politics since 2010. The development of representative institutions in Myanmar was a rather slow and quite erratic process during the course of the twentieth century. In 1923, the British established a unicameral Legislative Council for Burma, replicating a set of reforms implemented in their other Indian colonies in 1919. The 2008 Constitution provides for a bicameral national legislature, which is headquartered in Naypyitaw. It combines a 440-seat lower chamber and a 224-member upper chamber. The 2008 Constitution also created fourteen state and region legislative bodies: one parliament for each of the seven states and the seven regions. A crucial link between society and polity, parliamentary representation is a core element of modern democracy. The renewal of parliamentary activism in Myanmar since the 2010 general elections has drawn significant praise.
